Traditional grammars describe adverb clauses as dependent or subordinate clauses that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that perform an adverbial function. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Form of English Adverb Clauses explains the internal structures that distinguish adverb clauses from other grammatical forms. Grammatical Functions Grammatical Function of English Adverb Clauses explains […] More
Clauses are defined as grammatical structures that contain a subject and a predicate and that are the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. One primary division in the analysis of clauses is the distinction between independent clauses and dependent clauses. Independent Clauses Independent clauses in English grammar are grammatical structures that consist […] More
The smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition, a clause is defined as a grammatical structure that contains a subject and a predicate. The English language has four forms of clauses: Verb clause Noun clause Adjective clause Adverb clause Each grammatical form of clause in English performs distinct grammatical functions. The following sections […] More
Similar to the adjective and adjective phrase in grammatical function, an adjective clause is a dependent or subordinate clause that consists of a subordinating conjunction, specifically a relative pronoun, followed by a clause and that performs an adjectival function. Some grammars use the term relative clause for adjectives clauses. Relative Pronouns Conjunctions are “words that […] More
Whereas sentence purpose refers to the function of sentences, sentence structure refers to the structure, or form, of sentences in a language. Four types of sentence structures exist in the English language: simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences. Simple Sentences The first type of sentence in the English language is the simple […] More
Similar to nouns and noun phrases in grammatical function, noun clauses are dependent or subordinate clauses that perform nominal functions and that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause. Some grammars use the term nominal clause for noun clauses. Noun clause is a grammatical form. Grammatical function distinguishes noun clauses from other subordinate […] More
Noun clauses are independent, or subordinate, clauses that perform nominal functions. Clauses are grammatical structures that contain a subject and a predicate. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Forms of English Noun Clauses explains the internal structure of noun clauses in English. Forming Noun Clauses from Questions explains the formation of noun clauses from interrogative constructions. Grammatical Functions […] More
A noun clause is a dependent clause that consists of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that performs a nominal function. Noun clauses perform nine grammatical functions in English grammar: Subject Subject complement Direct object Object complement Indirect object Prepositional complement Noun phrase complement Adjective phrase complement Appositive The following sections define and […] More
Similar to the noun and noun phrase in grammatical function, a noun clause is a dependent or subordinate clause that consists of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that performs a nominal function. Some grammars use the term nominal clause for noun clauses. Conjunctions are “words that link words, phrases, and clauses.” A […] More
Similar to the adverb and adverb phrases in grammatical function, an adverb clause is a dependent or subordinate clause that consists of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that performs an adverbial function. Conjunctions are “words that link words, phrases, and clauses.” A subordinating conjunction is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate or […] More
Traditional grammars define nouns as “words that refer to people, places, things, and ideas.” Pronouns are a subcategory of nouns. Noun phrases are phrases formed by a noun functioning as the phrase head plus any determinatives, modifiers, and complements. In English, prototypical nouns and noun phrases perform eleven grammatical functions: Noun phrase head Subject Subject […] More
Simple sentences such as The fire glowed and Extremely frigid fall winds chilled my sweater-loving puppy of small stature to his tiny little bones during his bedtime walk in the dark are sentences that contain only one clause. Formed by the noun phrase functioning as the subject The fire and the verb phrase functioning as […] More
